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Countries that are rich in petroleum have less democracy, less economic stability, and more frequent civil wars than countries without oil. Michael L. Ross, Professor of Political Science and and Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA, looks at how developing nations are shaped by their mineral wealth -- and how they can turn oil from a curse into a blessing. His new book, shows why oil wealth typically creates less economic growth than it should; why it produces jobs for men but not women; and why it creates more problems in poor states than in rich ones. It also warns that the global thirst for petroleum is causing companies to drill in increasingly poor nations, which could further spread the oil curse. (#23819)